Saturday, April 23, 2016

The Bad Times: Yes, famine is no fun

It’s often not very fun to be negative about a book that’s
well-meaning, and this one is about as well-meaning as they come. It’s about
the Irish Famine that took place between 1846 and 1849, and it tries hard to be
authentic and educational. Unfortunately, it’s just not very good, with broadly-drawn
characters that don’t seem very much like real people, plotting and dialogue
that is descriptive without providing much in the way of relatability, and rudimentary
artwork that doesn’t really capture the tragedy of the events.

You know you’re in for trouble when the book starts with a
text introduction that explains who the main characters are and how they relate
to each other, rather than trusting the story itself to reveal this organically.
We do get something of a feel for the three teenaged leads as the famine slowly
sets in and their families begin to suffer, and the approaching dread as their
families worry about how they’re going to be able to survive is fairly
effective. But much of it is pretty ham-fisted, with characters stating their
feelings explicitly, breaking the “show, don’t tell” rule often.

What’s more, sometimes it’s hard to tell exactly what is
going on, as in this scene, when one of the teens wakes up and goes outside to
find that disease has struck his neighbors:

At least, I think that’s what’s supposed to be happening
there. Are the townspeople just hanging out in the street and wailing at their
misfortune? It’s not very clear.

Those pages also give an example of the regular use of the
Irish language, which requires readers to regularly flip to the glossary in the
back of the book to understand what people are saying. It’s meant to add
authenticity, but it ends up just being cumbersome. This is also true of
occasional references to events or political figures, such as the Irish
nationalist leader Daniel O’Connell, which are often mentioned with little explanation.
While this sort of thing might be meant to encourage readers to learn more, it
doesn’t make for a very satisfying read.

The book isn’t total ineffective; there are some scenes of
real tragedy, with things getting worse and worse for everyone as the characters’
families begin to be unable to find work, get forced out of their homes, and slowly
starve and die. But there’s little in the way of nuance, with people either
being good and generous or evil and greedy. The villains of the book might as
well twirl their moustaches as they oppress the poor and starving populace:

Overall, it’s not a worthless book; there’s something to be
said for depicting tragic history in an unflinching manner. But while this book does
do that, it doesn’t make the characters compelling enough to really feel that
tragedy, and it doesn’t fill in the details well enough to help readers get a
full understanding of the events. Good intentions mean something, but they’re
not enough to actually create a quality product.